WASHINGTON, Feb 5, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – President Donald Trump promises a shift
to sunny optimism in the State of the Union speech but with his congressional
Democratic nemesis seated right behind him, will he be able to resist
throwing his usual thunderbolts?
The annual presidential speech to Congress is typically a ritualistic set
piece, bloated by lofty rhetoric and endless ovations.
Trump’s dramatically delayed State of the Union on Tuesday is, like the
president himself, less predictable.
The White House is flagging an “optimistic,” “unifying,” even “visionary”
speech to mark this presidency’s midway point. In an excerpt released Friday,
Trump predicts Republicans and Democrats can “break decades of political
stalemate.”
But the mood in Washington is as hostile as it has been for years following
the confrontation between Trump and the Democratic-led House of
Representatives over his demand for funding for a US-Mexico border wall.
Already, the row has triggered a crippling five-week partial shutdown of
government and led to the State of the Union speech itself being put off by a
week.
And who’ll be sitting on a dais just a few feet behind Trump when he
speaks? The House Democrats’ steely speaker Nancy Pelosi.
– Wall fight –
Pelosi has frustrated Trump since December by pushing back against the wall
project. Neither is there much sign of a thaw ahead of the president’s
February 15 deadline for Congress finally to come up with funding or face
renewed conflict.
Pelosi, Trump said in an interview with CBS television’s “Face the Nation”
Sunday talkshow, is “rigid” and “very bad for the country.”
If Congress doesn’t relent, Trump says he could repeat his government
shutdown tactic, which earlier this year led to the temporary freezing of
800,000 federal jobs.
Alternatively, he could bypass Congress altogether, declaring a national
emergency due to what he claims is an invasion of criminals along the border,
thereby attempting to secure wall funds unilaterally.
It’s a move that would spark uproar and lawsuits accusing Trump of
manufacturing a crisis for his own political gain.
But not only is an emergency declaration a real possibility, it could,
Trump has teased, be unleashed during his speech.
– Achievements and threats –
Traditionally, the State of the Union is a showcase for the president’s
accomplishments and broad new proposals.
Trump can be counted on to tout the strength of the US economy, a key
message in his looming 2020 reelection campaign. The White House says he will
also propose federal infrastructure spending, an area where Democrats could
conceivably join forces with the government.
More contentiously, Trump will claim foreign policy successes.
That means defending his push — criticized by some in the security
services and the Republicans — to withdraw US soldiers from Syria and
Afghanistan as soon as possible.
Trump is likewise expected to update Congress on China trade talks and on
his intention to hold a second summit with reclusive North Korean leader Kim
Jong Un, whom he is trying to persuade to give up nuclear weapons.
And he may use the high-profile occasion to dial up the pressure on
Venezuela’s leftist leader Nicolas Maduro — with opposition leader Juan
Guaido’s envoy to Washington among the top guests invited to attend.
At each listing of successes, Trump will see Republican legislators rise to
clap.
The opposition, however, may greet much of the speech with silence or even
the odd heckle, like the “You lie!” yelled at Barack Obama in 2009.
Democrats are lining up ahead of the 2020 polls to take on a president they
see as already badly wounded.
Among those watching Trump from the chamber will be members of House
investigative committees determined to probe the president’s personal
finances and other sensitive areas.
That’s on top of the huge report by special prosecutor Robert Mueller, who
is charged with examining alleged collusion between the Trump election
campaign and the Kremlin.
So Trump could breathe fire during his big speech. But Pelosi and her
Democrats will be breathing down his neck.